This is one I really thought was going to be a good read. I was wrong. Well to begin with it's very evident that Jeffrey Blount should not try write a book in the character of a young girl. It didn't work for me. It didn't feel comfortable or even believable to read. It was an awkward feeling as I read each page. The thing about it is that the plot of the story was interesting, it could have been written better maybe by a woman perhaps. I'm not real sure but reading this felt like it was at age age appropriate but other times it was far too mature for a freshman. I didn't like Mae at all. As a matter of fact some parts made liking her almost impossible. I think this book was too emotionally charged at times for young reader. I planned on sharing this book with my 13 year old granddaughter but after reading it myself I came to the conclusion that she would not enjoy it at all. ( )

This is one I really thought was going to be a good read. I was wrong. Well to begin with it's very evident that Jeffrey Blount should not try write a book in the character of a young girl. It didn't work for me. It didn't feel comfortable or even believable to read. It was an awkward feeling as I read each page. The thing about it is that the plot of the story was interesting, it could have been written better maybe by a woman perhaps. I'm not real sure but reading this felt like it was at age age appropriate but other times it was far too mature for a freshman. I didn't like Mae at all. As a matter of fact some parts made liking her almost impossible. I think this book was too emotionally charged at times for young reader. I planned on sharing this book with my 13 year old granddaughter but after reading it myself I came to the conclusion that she would not enjoy it at all. ( )

An emotionally charged book that captures you on an intense roller coaster while somehow managing to avoid the cliches normally associated with books about teen grief. For a small book, this one packs a huge punch.

I received this book from the author, Jeffrey Blount, in exchange for a fair and honest review.

At the Kensington Day of the Book Festival, I was intrigued by the title of an author’s book, Hating Heidi Foster. When I looked closer, I noticed actual photographs of two girls. How did these two things match up?

Jeffrey Blount, the author of Hating Heidi Foster, was kind enough to explain. He had witnessed a touching moment between his daughter and her best friend, and was inspired to write a book about friendship.

In Hating Heidi Foster, Mae McBride and Heidi were best friends, inseparable, and just starting high school. Until the day that Mae’s father died while saving Heidi from a fire in her home.

Mae is unable to forgive Heidi, tormented by the thought that her father chose Heidi over her, and that Heidi will live with her father, while Mae’s father is the one to die.

Will Mae ever be able to forgive?

Hating Heidi Foster is a touching story. I really connected with Mae, who struggles through the stages of mourning and adjustment as a young teen.

Just listen to Mae’s thoughts in this stunning quote from the beginning of the novel:

“But my relationship with my father was now ashes on the river and I felt myself becoming jealous of Mummy, because as of that day, I would never be a daddy’s girl again.” - p. 3

I like how there are positive role models in the story, adults who will guide Mae to make the right decisions, but also let her make her own mistakes. Mae has a great relationship with her Gran Gran (Dad’s mom), with her own mom, and with her other grandparents. That’s not something you always see in books, especially ones geared toward young adult readers.

Hating Heidi Foster is a young adult book, but it can easily be enjoyed by all ages. The book touches on positive relationships between teens and adults, teenage mourning, and forgiveness.

I really enjoyed reading it (and needed some tissues while doing so!) and I would recommend this book, especially to those young adult readers out there.

Wikipedia in English

Mae McBride and Heidi Foster were the very best of friends. Tied at the hip from early elementary school, their relationship was the stuff of storybooks, legendary even, in the minds of their high school classmates.

Unshakable. That is, until Mae's father died while saving Heidi s life. When Mae finds out, she blames Heidi. She blames her father for putting Heidi ahead of her. She blames her friends for taking Heidi s side. She begins to unravel amid that blame and her uncontrollable and atypical anger.

At the same time Heidi is beset by guilt, falls into depression and stops eating properly; wasting away physically and emotionally while waiting for Mae to let her back into the friendship she misses so dearly.

Mae, consumed by her hatred of Heidi, the confusion regarding her father's motives, the perceived desertion of her friends and her mother's grief, loses more and more of herself. What could possibly bring these two old friends back to each other? A miracle?

Hating Heidi Foster, is a young adult novel about the place of honor true friendships hold in our lives. It is about suffering and loss and the ethics of grief. It is about a deep and painful conflict, the bright light of selflessness and sacrifice and the love that rights the ship and carries us safely to port.